“You’re a nice little boy to get into a trap like this!”
There was no mistaking that voice. Just how Ned Nestor had secured that disguise and found his way to that spot Jimmie did not stop to think. He knew that it was his chum, and that was enough. While the two boys clasped hands Liu stood regarding them smilingly, at the same time watching the entrance.
“How did you ever find this hole?” Jimmie asked, his wonder at the thing which had happened mastering all else.
“I saw this cave when my machine dropped into a hole in the air in the cañon,” was the reply. “The shelf where we landed is just above this cavern. There was a fire in the outer room, and numerous Chinamen were moving about.”
“They’re opium smugglers,” Jimmie said.
“Man smugglers!” laughed Ned.
“Do you mean that they bring Chinks over the border here, an’ so run them down into civilization whenever they get a chance?” demanded Jimmie.
“That is just it,” Ned answered. “We seem to have come upon a lot of the articles to be smuggled,” he added.
“How did you come across Liu?” Jimmie asked.
“Oh, I met him while I was prowling about not far from the cave, at daylight,” was the reply. “He helped me get this disguise.”